#class discussion

[weedoccultadvice]

What if an eternally existing godform dedicated solely to pouring themselves wholeheartedly and unreservedly into one task for their entire existence gets PTSD from doing said task?

[theweepingcora]

The Ikemen: Revolution and the love revolution

I know in class today we brought up Ikemen and I am bringing up Ikemen: Revolution. A game where you are Alice in wonderland and by the next full moon you will go home.

A war is going on between two sides but 14 men are available to date and romance (I personally go after Harr or Sirius). Though they don't seem to care about gender since they use the term Queen with male characters and each character has a feminine trait. (Luka likes being a maid, Ray loves animals, and Seth is Seth).

Though with the story wise you choose a boy to romance and for the first 4-8 ish chapters it's more of like a "Oh were just cool friends" and after chapter 9 you get kidnapped by the Red side. Soon the male you choose starts to have a romance with you.

With Loki's route it's also explained that there's only 4 natural magic users (Loki, Haar, A grandmage, and Oliver). The rest needs to use these crystals, but you have a weird abundance of magic. The more magic you use the more of your lifespan gets zapped away and your eyes turn red.

You are also required to have princess training and decorating your room, which might I say is so fucking stupid. you only get 100-200 points every time you play and sometimes, they are back-to-back chapter related and will go from 8,000 points to 20,000 points and requires you to buy certain items and those items are like 16,000 coins or you have to use the gatcha. Okay tangent over.

Depending on the stats you have (Romantic or Dramatic) you can choose an alternate ending where you either end up having sex after a bit more story or another dramatic story where it's more fluff and getting closer to the guy you choose. Ikemen: Sengoku has the same game play though I have never played Ikemen: Vampire.

The ending is always going to be a bait and switch where you plan to go home, sometimes you do, and the guy comes after you saying he can't live without you, and you go back to the land to live with him. This is also an actual story where they point out you have been missing for over a month since time works different there than it does in the real world.

If you play the gatcha you can unlock other stories, they typically go with a wedding approach especially this time of year or for more stories they are good at. Ray and Lancalot definitely have the most cards since they are the kings of where they rule and are the most popular characters, but each character has a good number of cards.

When I first played this I was in middle school and it would be one of the first things I would do when I would get on the bus in the morning. Each chapter isn't too long maybe 5-8 minutes at most so each day will be about 20-30 minutes of your time. in the extra sections you can find character maps on how each character sees each other.

I have not done Olivers story but I will tell you he falls into that stupid trope of "Oh he's actually 30 something but he looks 12" when he's actively taken care of which is SO WEIRD. He's already not my favorite and this kinda just bleh

[pathfuckery]

New Year, New Deity Masterpost!

Thanks for all who followed along with this little theme for January. For the final day, I've put together a masterpost, making it easy to go back and read prior posts you may have missed or wanted to visit again. If you liked this month and want to see more things like it, let me know! What would you like to see?

Day 1 - Cleric of Abadar

Day 2 - Cleric of Asmodeus

Day 3 - Cleric of Calistria

Day 4 - Cleric of Cayden Cailean

Day 5 - Cleric of Desna

Day 6 - Cleric of Erastil

Day 7 - Cleric of Gorum

Day 8 - Cleric of Gozreh

Day 9 - Cleric of Iomedae

Day 10 - Cleric of Irori

Day 11 - Cleric of Lamashtu

Day 12 - Cleric of Nethys

Day 13 - Cleric of Norgorber

Day 14 - Cleric of Pharasma

Day 15 - Cleric of Rovagug

Day 16 - Cleric of Sarenrae

Day 17 - Cleric of Shelyn

Day 18 - Cleric of Torag

Day 19 - Cleric of Urgathoa

Day 20 - Cleric of Zon-Kuthon

Day 21 - Cloistered Cleric vs. Warpriest

Day 22 - Early Cleric Feats

Day 23 - Low-Level Divine Spells

Day 24 - Mid-Level Cleric Feats

Day 25 - Mid-Level Divine Spells

Day 26 - High-Level Cleric Feats

Day 27 - High-Level Divine Spells

Day 28 - Cool Cleric Art

Day 29 - What About You?

Day 30 - Foundry Sheets!

[opera-ghost]

[nmenvs3000w25]

Blog Post #4: Interpreting Nature through Art

Who are you to interpret nature through art?

I believe art, including nature-based art, offers a way to express and reflect on the world around us. When interpreting nature through art, it is never just recreating the landscape that we see in front of us but also sharing our emotional and intellectual connection to it. Artists bring their own unique perspective and lens to how they perceive and communicate the natural world. As interpreters, our goal is to present facts and information in ways that resonate with people and allow them to interpret them in their own unique manner. Interpreters aim to evoke an emotional connection, encourage learning, and inspire action within their community.

How do you interpret “the gift of beauty”?

This week’s readings were very powerful as they encouraged their readers to go beyond simply delivering information when interpreting nature and use their interpretation to address various needs through gaining knowledge and understanding to enriching one’s aesthetic experience and supporting personal development. 

How do you interpret “the gift of beauty”? The chapter 3 textbook readings assigned for this week elaborates on the idea that interpretation is a way to encourage people to recognize and appreciate the beauty of the world that surrounds them, find a sense of spiritual enchainment and inspiration for the conservation of natural resources. It talked about environmental interpretation through art and the many ways it can be portrayed, in which can connect to different individuals and create stronger appreciations for nature. 

One quote from Interpreting Cultural and Natural Heritage that really resonated with me was, “in interpretation, the arts are a means, but rarely the ends” (Beck et al. 2018).

This statement suggests that although the various ways art is displayed can be a powerful tool in interpretation, they are not usually the final goal. The arts serve as a medium to communicate, express, and deepen understanding, evoking emotion. The primary aim of interpretation is often to achieve something beyond just artistic expression—fostering knowledge, awareness, deeper connections and inspire actions and change. The arts have the power to enhance individual’s interpretive processes, but the real objective lies in what is achieved through the expression of that creativity, whether it is personal growth, cultural insight or environmental consciousness. 

Experiencing “the gift of beauty”

In my opinion, interpreting "the gift of beauty" in nature is often an experience that happens from a deeply personal experience of connecting with the environment in a way that transcends mere observation. For me, it’s about capturing the moments when nature's beauty sparks something beyond words—an emotional response or a shift in perspective.

Upon travelling around Italy, we drove up the mountain side of a small town called Fregona. Standing up on the mountain top in quiet, hearing only the sound of the wind, I felt an overwhelming sense of peace. The beauty of the landscape wasn't just something to look at; it was something that felt deeply restorative. The colours, the sounds and the stillness all came together, creating an experience that was beyond visual beauty. What truly opened my eyes to the artistry within nature was that upon looking down, I noticed that previous visitors had used rocks to spell out their names in the mountain scape soil. It was a surreal experience and in a way a kind of spiritual uplifting, where the natural world felt alive in a way that touched something inside me. That to me is the true meaning and interpretation of art in nature.

Questions for the Class!

What are your thoughts on the intersection of nature and art?

[agave]

no more tags, we're arguing on main. I think they turn you into a mummy/wrap you up and suffocate you and have thought so since childhood. what do you guys think

[ahsokalegend]

One of my favorite choices the Apothecary Diaries made was making the Emperor a “normal guy” (as far as I know as an anime-only). He’s not evil. He’s not hindering Mao Mao’s journey. He respects the concubines.

If anything his lack of autonomy and presence as the most powerful person in the country further enhances the show’s themes of working within the confines of class and gender inequality.

The previous emperor was a horrible, horrible pervert. Okay, then this emperor only weds women of age… Until he’s forced to take his father’s precious wife due to politics. The current emperor reasonably avoids her.

Eunuchs exist? Bam! now the surgery is outlawed, but this will create a reduction in male labor around the palace.

The emperor clearly favors few women. Well, now he must recognize a concubine with a powerful politician father playing the system.

He supports Mao Mao toeing the line of social expectations for women, but hasn’t removed the law against women preparing medicine. It makes one think, if he wanted to, could he make the change at all? For every two steps forward, he’s forced to take one step back.

In this universe even the Emperor is limited by social pressure and the expectations of his station. His life and that of his children is out of his control, and if that isn’t such a compelling piece of world building I don’t know what is.

If that’s how the author twists the narrative of the Emperor you better believe her female characters dealing with women’s issues in this society are even better written.

[late-night-chai-latte]

"Come, lay down and let me take care of you"

[maigetheplatypus57]

Do you think Evbo learned how to do those jumps and thought "oh this is so sick what's the best way I can show off my parkour skills"

[thedaveandkimmershow]

When January officially started, we were flying high above the Labrador Sea, the one right there above the North Atlantic Ocean. We were flying somewhere south of Greenland, three hours behind Greenwich Mean Time, as December 31, 2023 became January 1, 2024. 

Earlier, when we boarded and took our seats, I asked one of the stewards if there was a way to know when New Year’s would arrive on the plane.

He said “Yes there is… but it involves math.”

Oh good grief.

Fortunately there was WiFi on board and I managed to figure it out.

After that, we were on a fully immersive and meaningful visit with my family in Holland through Sunday, January 7th.

The way it felt is as if we jumped into 2024 midstream.

“Midstream” with a touch of jet lag that hung on for a week, week-and-a-half.

“Midstream” where, after the 7th, I mean the very next day, I immediately returned to all the different places I work including my personal edit suite.

“Midstream” where Kimmer continued her doctoral studies during our trip and every day after, a relentless exercise of writing writing writing after reading reading reading on top of lectures, tests, and class discussion.

Oh yeah. And then Kimmer's full-time job. 

My uncle, aunt, and their two kids (my cousins who are, in fact, no longer “kids”), took off from Amsterdam mid-month and we've been following their grand adventure to and across Indonesia in an app called Polarsteps ever since with about a week, week-and-a-half to go. A ton of photographs, a map tracking their progress, and the occasional post updating their experiences.🙂

This is also, legitimately, the beginning of the year and we're considering any and all things that need to be done differently. Or even… things that need to be done. Mostly those considerations have to do with businesses, receipts, and accounting. You know. The super fun stuff. 🤣🤣🤣

I'm also seeing us wanting to be more intentional in our relationships including (and especially) the ones five thousand miles away and the ones temporarily adventuring eight thousand four hundred miles away. Largely because the experiences we had with the people closest to us at the top of the month (even as they live far away) created a lot of continuing memories.

Continuing memories?

Yeah.

Like imagining what happens next. Like thinking about what would be great if it happened next.

Continuing memories.

Here's something new, though. 

We are now a family of four.

Four?

Yes. Now remember, we're empty-nesters so by definition we’re a family of two. Add a cat (Dinker)...

Now we've got a family of three.

Our fourth comes to us from a dear friend who's heading off to New York either to live at a friend's place while she's away a few months… or to be there be there.

No idea what's gonna happen.

So as of Monday afternoon, 2:30pm, we're a family of four in which cat number 1 (Dinker) and cat number two (Quarter Note) are aware of each other…

But they’ve not laid eyes on each other.

It's part of a routine we’re following from a YouTube channel to manage a good meeting and outcome between the two cats rather than let ‘em loose in the same room and hope for the best.

So far, Quarter Note’s spent a solid twenty-four hours under the protection of the family room couch, only venturing out from its safety for food, water, and bathroom breaks. When no one, of course, is around.

Over the last hour, though, Quarter Note's been sending mixed signals, coming out to rub up against my legs, enjoying his sides being stroked or his head.

And then low-key hissing.

Don't know what to tell you. There's no claws out. No arching back or incredibly puffy tail…

And then he's enjoying strokes and rubbing up against my legs.

At one point he considers jumping onto the couch. He's got his front paws on the edge… but decides against it, opting instead for wandering back and forth while letting his tail stroke against the bottoms of my extended legs.

Cats are weird.

Right now he's under the couch again. But every so often pokes his head out to look at me for a moment before pulling back underneath.

So that's happening.

Finally, I read an article in the New York Times that captured perfectly these weeks following Christmas. The article’s called “The Joy and Sorrow of Streaming”. Written by Melissa Kirsch, Desiree Ibekwe, and Melissa Clark, it starts like this:

“The year continues to get its bearings, to establish itself. Right now, it’s still a collection of post-holiday weeks, getting-going weeks, weeks for planning the year to come. An on-ramp where we get up to speed. Soon we’ll be properly in the flow of traffic, soon we’ll really be on our way.”

Of course being on an international flight leaving the States December 31 of 2023 and arriving in Europe January 1 of the New Year, 2024…

Definitely feels like we're already on our way.

We’ll see how this plays out.

In the meantime…

Onward!

☺️

[lovelisara]

— 23 august 2023

the day was much easier and much shorter. only one class today! it was my film stars class which is pretty discussion heavy. i didn’t say anything today either, but for our weekly reading/notes we’ve gotta watch some short clips, so hopefully i’ll be able to contribute more to the conversation. we will see! nothing else happened today. just worked on my mafia class reading and what not!

3 things i’m grateful for:

cauliflower pizza.

air conditioned buses.

shorts.

— xx lisa

[divineandmajesticinone]

THE NEXT PRINCE THE SERIES (2025) I EP. 5 "The more forbidden something is, the more we want to own it."

[ninja-knox-ur-sox-off]

Chronic Sonic pt 5

Just a couple small doodles that could've gone with the last part

Shadow spends a hot minute without his inhibitors while Tails makes Sonic his own. Tails does try to get him to take em back, (he doesnt need another hedgehog making bad dicisions that lead to health issues) but Shadows pretty stubborn. No he doesn't need to let Sonic wear them the whole time, yes it does hurt to leave them off after battling without them on, yes he knows he's being paranoid. but he has trauma and he doesn't want to lose another person so his cuffs stay where they are.

[freyadragonlord]

What Han Yoojin thinks his life is like:

What Han Yoojin's life is actually like:

[n-just-n]

I had english class